No, it's Not a Prequel: ABC President Confirms S.H.I.E.L.D. Takes Place After The Avengers

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Scratch one theory off the list.

By Eric Goldman

Ever since it was announced that Clark Gregg would be part of the cast of S.H.I.E.L.D., the question all of us who saw The Avengers had was how could that be? How could Agent Phil Coulson, who appeared to die in that film, return? While there are plenty of theories on that, another question was if the series would even have to “resurrect” Coulson at all, with some wondering if maybe it was a prequel, set before the events of Avengers.

Last night at the TCA (Television Critics Association) press tour, I spoke to ABC president Paul Lee about S.H.I.E.L.D. and when I asked him how tied into the ongoing Marvel films the series would be, he replied, “There is no question that it is part of the Marvel Universe. In fact, the story takes place after the battle for New York."

Having confirmed that the series was one set post-Avengers, Lee went on to say that still, S.H.I.E.L.D. had to stand on its own. “This is S.H.I.E.L.D. They’re following their own particular stories. There are characters in it, Coulson, who clearly come from Avengers. So it’s part of the world, but we’re going to be very, very careful that we don’t tread on the toes of the features and build a whole new world. And that’s what Joss Whedon does better than anybody else. He’s built a world for us.”

Exit Theatre Mode

S.H.I.E.L.D. begins filming next week, but hasn’t officially been picked up as a series beyond the pilot, and Lee stressed, “It’s the early days. We don’t know if it’s going to be everything we hope it’s going to be. We know the script is great. That’s all we know at this point. And we know Joss is the best!”

It’s hard not to imagine S.H.I.E.L.D. as a new way to introduce Marvel characters and Lee remarked, “I think if we’re lucky enough to have a great series, we’re obviously having fun with that. At this point though, we have a number of characters at the heart of the script who are real characters, who are the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and the first task is to make those guys great and relatable and everything that a great show needs. Beyond that, fingers crossed!”

Whedon meanwhile spoke to MTV this week, and commenting on the smaller scale of S.H.I.E.L.D. compared to the Marvel movies said, “You've got to bring a bit of spectacle to it. It’s got to be bigger than your average cop show. But at the end of the day, it’s about the peripheral people. It’s about the people on the edges of the grand adventures. The whole point of the show is that even with all these big things, the little things matter. So it’s about people who don’t have super powers. There will be some people with powers, there will be FX, there will be the spectacle of science-fiction storytelling, but all played on a very human, small level. That’s the appeal of the thing.”